Even when I tried to naturally pull my hand away with force, I was overpowered by an even stronger grip and held captive, making it difficult to push the sensation from my consciousness.
‘Is he doing this on purpose?’
For what reason?
Cha Woodan had awakened a mental-type ability. Was he trying to use it on me now?
That was the most logical inference for now. As I narrowed my eyes and watched Cha Woodan closely, a small thudding noise from outside the hallway suddenly reached us here.
Naturally turning my head toward the classroom door, Cha Jeoh was the first to get up and move. Perhaps because only the sound could be heard with no sign that anything particularly eventful had occurred, his footsteps were leisurely without any urgency.
Soon Cha Jeoh reached the window overlooking the hallway and leaned against the glass to peer beyond. As I watched his back, after a brief wait, I called out to him.
“Cha…”
No, I tried to call out. But before I could fully pronounce those three syllables, my voice trailed off.
Cha Jeoh. Though I now knew that name.
“…Mr. Twin.”
After a beat. What I awkwardly changed it to was pure impulse, an inexplicable stubbornness. And something I wanted to hide, something that didn’t suit me—someone with little experience caring about others.
Mr. Twin—now that I’d said it, there couldn’t be a more bizarre form of address. If I’d just called him “hey” or “you” from the start, it would have been fine, but because I’d buttoned the first button wrong, the rest of my words became twisted too.
Even knowing there was nothing I could do about it now that I’d already spoken, I still closed my mouth belatedly and fumbled at the corners of my lips with an awkward touch. But of course, I wasn’t the only one shocked by that absurd form of address.
“What… huh, what?”
I rolled my eyes slightly. Before I knew it, Cha Jeoh had turned his back to the window and stood there, unable to close his gaping mouth as he raised his finger to point at himself.
“Me, me? Did you just call me?”
“……”
“Hayoung, Hayoung-ah. You still can’t tell us apart…?”
I deliberately looked away from his eyes, which were rapidly filling with moisture.
“Is something happening outside?”
“……”
I refused to meet that gaze boring into me until the very end. I closed my ears and turned my eyes away as if I couldn’t hear him calling my name so desperately.
At this point, even the twin should be getting used to my unwilling brain. I had no idea what was so regretful and precious that he wanted to remain in my head.
“…There’s nothing. Just, a monster was probably wandering around and bumped into something.”
Even in his dejected state, Cha Jeoh dutifully satisfied my curiosity. I nodded and immediately lost all interest, turning the topic back around.
***
Lee Gojun returned a full day later, the next morning.
Since it was still early, before the sun had fully risen, I sat buried in a pile of blankets brought over from the art room, unable to shake off my drowsiness. That’s why I didn’t recognize Lee Gojun at all as he approached me and reverently knelt down, clasping his hands together as if offering a prayer.
“Hayoung-ah, I’m really sorry. Geonwoo isn’t normally a bad guy, he just worries a lot…”
“……”
“I’ll persuade him well. So don’t feel too hurt.”
Honestly, I let most of Lee Gojun’s rambling go in one ear and out the other, and what little I did hear couldn’t be processed in my foggy mental state. Not caring about my attitude of just lightly rubbing my half-closed eyelids, he calmly continued speaking.
“While I’m persuading Geonwoo, I’m going to stay with him on the third floor of this building. Thanks to Cha Jeoh cleaning it up, there’s no danger of being attacked by monsters.”
“…Okay.”
“But I’ll definitely come visit morning and evening. If you get even slightly hurt or feel sick, call me right away!”
“…Mm.”
I still didn’t know what he was talking about, but I just responded appropriately as I could. Then Lee Gojun, who had been wearing a moved expression for a moment, pressed his forehead against his clasped hands and bowed his head deeply.
“In the name of the great Messiah Kim Hayoung, let there be light in this world. That salvation… urk. Ack! Why again!”
“Well, look at this crazy bastard. Now he doesn’t even pretend to be scared. You’ve gotten really cocky just because Hayoung’s been lenient with you, haven’t you?”
The last memory I retained was of Lee Gojun, who had been muttering something prayer-like by himself, suddenly grimacing as his scruff was grabbed by Cha Jeoh, who had appeared at some point, and being dragged away. Watching that scene with hazy eyes, I released the tension I’d been holding in my body and buried myself in the soft blankets.
***
When I opened my eyes again, the sun had already risen high in the sky. As I was savoring that languid morning, I suddenly narrowed my eyes.
‘Didn’t Lee Gojun come by earlier?’
What had he said? Ah, come to think of it, there was something I needed to ask through Lee Gojun…
Tap—a cool sensation lightly tapped my lower lip.
“Hayoung-ah, let’s drink some water.”
When I rolled my eyes, Cha Woodan had already claimed the spot beside me and sat there wearing his usual smile. I’d thought the blanket beside me had sunk deeply a moment ago—it seemed he’d come over with water right after I woke up.
As I just stared silently without any words or reaction, Cha Woodan tapped my lips again.
“Why? Aren’t you thirsty?”
“…No.”
With a hoarse voice, I answered slowly and then opened my mouth. Cool water flowed through the small passageway created between the soft flesh. Unlike when I drank by myself, it was tilted with perfect precision so it wouldn’t overflow outside my mouth or run down my chin.
When I pulled my head back as if to say that was enough, the plastic bottle also withdrew as if it had been waiting for that. As I swallowed the water filling my mouth in several gulps, I narrowed my brow slightly.
‘Why is the water… cold?’
It was a sense of déjà vu that bloomed a beat too late. As I licked my lips and turned my gaze, I saw frost forming white on the surface of the plastic bottle still held in Cha Woodan’s hand.
Naturally, the refrigerators and freezers remaining in this world couldn’t be used except in special cases. Like the water supply, electricity had been cut off for quite a while, and since it had been over two weeks since the monsters appeared, even the emergency power wouldn’t be left.
In such a situation, a plastic bottle of water maintaining a cool chill, even seeming to have just been brought—previously in the art room, I’d drunk water at room temperature that had been stored at ambient conditions, so this was all the more questionable.
It wasn’t winter with snowflakes swirling around right now, but rather a time closer to summer…
“Hayoung-ah?”
Cha Woodan, who had been quietly waiting for me as I suddenly seemed lost in thought, belatedly spoke up. After scanning once the crimson lips that made that simple call, once his Adam’s apple, and once his hands that were said to have awakened a mental-type ability, I rolled my eyes slightly.
‘Is there a survivor at Hanul High with an ability related to ice or temperature?’
There were words that came immediately to mind fitting the twins’ image. Threats, exploitation, extortion. Or becoming a living tool like I’d worried about becoming monster bait.
‘Let’s not dig too deep.’
I didn’t really care much what others did anyway, and I was too busy facing other problems right now to have the leisure.
Staggering as I got up, I moved my steps toward the window. The firmly closed old window made an ominous creaking sound every time I touched it briefly. I rubbed the surface of that window, then stared at the side view of the main building and the playground visible beyond.
In the playground, two or three monsters were loitering around with movements that were obviously weak even at a glance. Staring silently at that scene, I opened my mouth without looking at Cha Woodan who had come to my side.
“Where’s your twin?”
For an instant, Cha Woodan’s lips twisted, but it was a scene that didn’t enter my vision, which was focused only outside the window. Cha Woodan, who quickly and skillfully composed his expression, tapped and pointed at a spot outside the window.
“Outside. Looking for a place for us to stay.”
“What about Lee Gojun?”
“You keep caring about him in such a strange way, Hayoung. I wonder why…”
Only then did I turn to look at Cha Woodan. His black pupils were submerged in a deep hue.
“Is that guy so handsome? Or is that just your taste?”
Was he still holding onto what I said yesterday in his heart?
‘Why?’
As I chewed on the unspoken question in my mouth, Cha Woodan curved the corners of his eyes roundly.
“Could it be you like what he does? Do you prefer that kind of fanatic and blind devotion more, Hayoung?”
This time I expressed denial without hesitation.
“I don’t like it. That kind of thing is annoying.”
“I know. I know you find that kind of attention annoying.”
Then why. Instead of continuing his words, Cha Woodan was asking me that just by drawing a deep smile. But that question, which must have been aimed solely at Lee Gojun, changed into a slightly different form as it approached me.
Yeah, why.
‘You guys.’
Why do you feel like something different from others to me?
‘Is it really because we briefly crossed paths with each other at some point, and I’m vaguely acting like this simply because of that?’
The face that had been distorted while talking about Lee Gojun had already relaxed. Lowering my eyes unfocused and hazy, I rummaged through the vague afterimages in my head.
I needed the food and water the twins had, so I decided to become temporary allies. I could sense the inexplicable goodwill the twins had toward me, so rather than being needlessly wary, I stayed by their side in a comfortable state.
‘Come to think of it, when did I stop being on guard against these guys?’
